Help the City create better guidelines for developing family-friendly condo communities

The City of Toronto recently announced that they are launching a study to figure out how to improve planning to better accommodate families in multi-unit residential buildings. The plan is called Growing Up: Planning for Children in New Vertical Communities.

The City Planning division is spearheading this study, which will examine the condo lifestyle from three different perspectives: The condo unit, the building, and the neighbourhood. When it comes to the condo unit, how can the size and layout better accommodate parents with young children? Does the minimum size need to be increased? Perhaps it should be required to have a higher percentage of two- and three-bedroom units.

When it comes to the building, City Planning will be looking at what kind of amenities and services condo buildings should have. We’re already seeing many developers including pet spas in the amenity floors, recognizing that many singles and couples want a place to groom and bathe their pets. Maybe we will see more daycares and children’s play rooms. Remember when you used to crawl through the tunnels and play in the ball pits at McDonalds when you were a kid? Imagine having something like that in your condo!  

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We’re glad that City Planning is looking at how neighbourhoods can better accommodate growing families. Improving neighbourhoods for family purposes can mean anything from widening sidewalks, lowering speed limits, being more selective about retail space tenants, and maybe even getting developers to contribute additional buildings and services with their condo project. We won’t really know what any of this entails until the public consultations begin.

The study is targeting seven areas including downtown, Etobicoke, North York, Yonge Eglinton, Scarborough Civic Centre, the Sheppard corridor (from Bayview to Leslie) and Humber Bay Shores.

In 2011, 11% of the downtown population consisted of children aged 19 years and younger, and 66% of households with children lived in buildings that were five storeys or taller. These are some serious numbers to consider, especially considering that 59% of condo units proposed or constructed are one-bedroom units.  

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While this study does seem necessary, a few developers already come to mind when thinking about family-friendly condo communities. Daniels has made strides in Regent Park, recently announcing The Wyatt and seeing a lot of success at their previous towers. Daniels has also supported the launching and opening of new businesses and recreation centres, such as the MLSE Athletic Grounds.   

At Tridel’s Bayside Toronto waterfront community, they announced that they are including a number of affordable housing units. Then there’s Dundee Kilmer’s Canary District where they built an 18-acre park with a pavilion, a toboggan hill, and children’s playground. Dundee Kilmer is also curating their retail space to be health & wellness oriented, which makes sense for families (and everyone else).

The more information City Planning has about what’s most important to families living in dense urban centres, the better the finalized plan will be. You can attend the public consultations once they begin, and in the meantime, you should take this survey to tell the City what’s most important to you when it comes to raising your family in the city.